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Synonyms

call it a day

Idioms  

  1. Stop a particular activity for the rest of the day, as in It's past five o'clock so let's call it a day. Similarly, call it a night means “to stop something for the rest of the night,” as in One more hand of bridge and then let's call it a night. The original phrase was call it half a day, first recorded in 1838, which referred to leaving one's place of employment before the work day was over. The first recorded use of call it a day was in 1919, and of call it a night in 1938. Also see call it quits.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But ministerial colleagues Shona Robison, Fiona Hyslop, and Richard Lochhead are among the original intake who have decided to call it a day.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

Why not make big printouts of the digital collages and call it a day?

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026

Djokovic isn’t ready to call it a day just yet.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 2026

"He'd become less committed in my opinion and at that point it was time to shake hands and call it a day," said Kleanthous.

From BBC • Oct. 10, 2025

Although he was ready to call it a day after so much excitement and emotion, it suddenly occurred to Duane that he never saw the finished painting.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.